How to Welcome a Lofter — The British Way
Let’s jump back to 3 weeks ago. There I was walking to the HKX office excited about what was to come, but of course a bit nervous too. I’ve been working out of the NY office for the past 8 years, and although there’s been a lot of change, I hadn’t really had the experience of settling into a new environment with brand new people since starting. How would I fit in, and how would I do that thing I’m horrible at, remembering names?
Those nerves quickly subsided once I started meeting the people here, and in particular when I met my Lofts coach, Stu. To say that those responsible for pairing us up for these 4 weeks did a good job would be an understatement. Stu’s a Creative Director, but not like any I’ve worked with in the past. He has a great eye for design, and approaches everything as an Experience Designer, and therefore pretty much represents XD here at Havas London. Somewhat similarly in hybridness, I’m an XD who comes from a coding background. Upon our first conversation it was easy to see that there’d be plenty to collaborate on over the next month. In particular, we’ll be heading down to McLaren headquarters during my final week to present ideas around how to make for a better fan watching experience, which all stemmed from one of those early conversations. Fun fact — he’s also very into Formula One, and wanted me, who had no idea who F-1 really was 3 weeks ago, to see their location.
Stu has also made a point of introducing me to plenty of people here, and given me the chance to really explore the work that I was interested in. One person I was introduced to is Nico, a Strategy Director. It was him and Stu who kind of partnered on some of the great global work that I was describing in my pervious post. Similar to that process, I’m participating in story mapping and brainstorming sessions during my final week that Nico is using to generate ideas. I’ve met a lot of great people here, but in particular I’m really looking forward to staying in touch with both Nico and Stu to perhaps continue with some of the work we’re doing this month, but even more importantly to just talk trends, different approaches, and good design. Those little one-off conversations over the past few weeks have really helped me realize how universally important this shared XD approach has become, and I’m confident they will inspire new ways to apply it back in NY.
Outside of that, I do have to mention how energized the Havas London office seems these days. I’ve really enjoyed hearing all the chatter (re: banter), the music selection, and how everyone sings happy birthday to the point of making the birthday boy or girl turn red. Of course all of this positive energy could be due to the, from what I’ve been told, best weather London has experienced in a decade. I’d lean towards people just enjoying working together, which is very similar to the feeling in NY.
